Effects of Parkinson’s-Disease Mutation Reversed In Cells

An anonymous reader sends this quote from a press release at Eurekalert: “UC San Francisco scientists working in the lab used a chemical found in an anti-wrinkle cream to prevent the death of nerve cells damaged by mutations that cause an inherited form of Parkinson’s disease. A similar approach might ward off cell death in the brains of people afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, the team suggested in a study reported online in the journal Cell on August 15 (abstract). … Mutations that cause malfunction of the targeted enzyme, PINK1, are directly responsible for some cases of early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Loss of PINK1 activity is harmful to the cell’s power plants, called mitochondria, best known for converting food energy into another form of chemical energy used by cells, the molecule ATP. In Parkinson’s disease, poorly performing mitochondria have been associated with the death of dopamine-producing nerve cells in a region of the brain called the substantia nigra, which plays a major role in control of movement. Loss of these cells is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease and the cause of prominent symptoms including rigidity and tremor. A UCSF team led by Shokat, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, used the chemical, called kinetin, to increase mutant PINK1 enzyme activity in nerve cells to near normal levels. ‘In light of the fact that mutations in PINK1 produce Parkinson’s disease in humans, the finding that kinetin can speed mutated PINK1 activity to near normal levels raises the possibility that kinetin may be used to treat these patients, ‘ Shokat said.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Kenneth May is a certified cybersecurity professional. He and his team offer services such as Advanced Vulnerability Assessments, Network Penetration Testing, Web Application Penetration Testing, and a wide array of compliance services covering HIPAA, PCI, and the various NIST & DOD requirements. Ken is a Community mentor for SANS, the largest Cybersecurity certification preparation company in the world, and carries both the GSEC and GPEN (Certified Ethical Hacker and Penetration Tester) certifications. He has recently been accepted into the FBI’s Infragard program, as a recognized protector of critical national infrastructure. This program gives him deep access to information and resources to protect his clients.